A Time Bomb

ROME/BERLIN (Own report) – Following Italian Prime Minster Matteo Renzi’s defeat in Sunday’s referendum, Berlin is urging Rome to quickly form a “capable government” and resume its adjustment to the German model of austerity. “The economic problems have to be tackled at the roots,” said Jens Weidmann, head of Germany’s central bank, yesterday. German financial experts are floating the idea of a cabinet of technocrats, modeled on the Mario Monti government. Monti ruled for a year and a half beginning in November 2011, without having been democratically elected and initiated an austerity program considered extremely harsh. Time is pressing: the bank crisis, caused, to a large extent, by bankruptcies due to German austerity dictates, which has been festering in Italy for a long time, is threatening to escalate. The Monte dei Paschi di Siena tradition bank’s recapitalization planned this week is acutely endangered. It cannot be ruled out that its bank crisis could soon spread to other Italian credit institutions and to German banks.

Italy’s Pier Carlo Padoan calls for ‘political union’ to save euro

A United States of Europe with Germany’s Fourth Reich at the helm is coming.

Countries such as Italy and France will just toe the line and join. Unlike Greece and Cyprus who were forced to join the club, the corrupt Italian and French leaderships are either too scared to go against the grain after Athens has just had an example made of it, or they’re in on the scheme.

 

Italy’s finance minister has called for deeper eurozone integration in the aftermath of the Greek crisis, saying a move “straight towards political union” is the only way to ensure the survival of the common currency.

Pier Carlo Padoan’s comments reflect how the tortured and dramatic negotiations that led to this month’s deal on a third bailout of Greece have triggered a round of soul-searching about the future of monetary union across European capitals.

“The exit and therefore the end of irreversibility is now an option on the table. Let’s not fool ourselves,” he said in an interview in his central Rome office. “If we want to take that risk away, then we have to have a different euro — a stronger euro.”

Proof That Merkel Is Europe’s Economic Bully

This is precisely why it’s oft said here that all roads in Europe lead to Berlin.

Germany is back with a Fourth Reich and has subjugated the entire European continent. If you’re looking for Nazis in Panzers, you’re roughly 70 years too late, as economic and political means were used. The leaders in Europe will continually push for integration and more integration until the United States of Europe dream is realized, even by economic and political force if necessary. Some nations will eventually leave while some, such as Greece, will stick around because they believe in the fantasy. There will be roughly ten in the end.

 

She’s the most dominant leader in the euro zone with virtual veto power over decisions

“The lesson of this crisis is more Europe, not less Europe,” Angela Merkel said in 2012 as the integrity of the region’s monetary union was threatened by financial instability, touched off by Greek debt, that was spreading through the euro zone’s weaker economies. By “more Europe,” the German chancellor meant a deepening of the continent’s noble mission—peaceful integration to ensure prosperity and democracy—of which the common currency, the euro, is the ultimate symbol.

In the intervening three years, Greeks have come to understand “more Europe” as something different: “more Germany.” That was one of the few clear messages sent in a referendum on July 5 that had everything to do with Greek voters’ views on how Merkel had imposed her vision of Europe on the zone and if their troubled nation would be better served as part of its grand project, or not.

Why the Euro Is Heading for an Earthshaking Crisis

Because the article has so many good points, a majority of it will be left up, as has been done here in rare cases.

Courtesy of The Trumpet:

 

And why the euro is incompatible with democracy

European leaders are in a panic. Greece’s banks are closed. Experts warn the global economy is under threat. And it all hinges on Greece’s place in the eurozone.

Fears of rioting and mass panic, dormant since the Greek fires of 2008, are rising again.

It shows just how fragile the eurozone is. In April 2014, the Greek government was able to borrow money on the normal financial markets at the relatively high, but not appalling, rate of 4.95 percent. As far as lenders were concerned, the euro crisis was over. Greece was no longer dangling over the edge of a precipice. Instead, it could borrow money just like any other normal nation.

Why Europe Won’t Let Greece Go

Everyone’s talking about Europe’s economy. But at the heart of the crisis is a very different problem.

Greece is on the brink yet again. It has to pay the International Monetary Fund (imf) us$1.7 billion by the end of the month. And that’s the start of a gauntlet of loan repayments—it owes €10 billion by the end of September. Meanwhile, it has not agreed to a deal to get that money. With time running out, European officials are reportedly preparing for a catastrophe. “The Greek saga is finally reaching its climax, we think,” said Morgan Stanley’s head of foreign exchange strategy.

What will happen? Will Greece leave the euro? Will it submit to Europe’s bailout conditions? Will it trigger a financial crisis? I don’t know. But I do know that in the long term Greece is going to remain under the European Union’s influence.

What Happens When You Take the UK out of the EU?

Britain is closer than ever to cutting ties with the European Union. What will Europe look like once the British are gone?

If the European Union wants to make British people angry, it’s doing a stellar job. In October, after revising how they calculate gross domestic product, EU officials determined that Britain was wealthier than they thought. They abruptly handed Britain an unexpected bill for $2.7 billion, including back payment, for the EU budget. Then other EU leaders publicly castigated London for noncompliance with the EU’s liberal immigration policies. And in November, Jean-Claude Juncker—a man who openly spurns democratic norms, saying, for example, in 2011, “I am for secret, dark debates”—was appointed president of the European Commission.

Britain’s simmering resentment of the EU boiled over.

Delusional Demise of the Euro – It’s A Plan Now

Everyone comes to the foregone conclusion that the European project was a failure from its inception. Yet what most people don’t see, and oft repeated (see also HERE), is that it was intentionally designed to fail. Once ‘all hell breaks loose’ the government is right there to hand you the predetermined solution to provide the desired outcome in society they had long hoped for. In this case, a European superstate, or The United States of Europe with Germany and its Fourth Reich at the helm.

 

The eminent collapse of the Euro was pre-determined by the disastrous design from the outset. Instead of accepting responsibility and altering the mistakes that would require political reform, we are in a position where Europe is simply moving into the realm of beyond all hope.

The EU’s Second Ring

BERLIN/KIEV/BERN (Own report) – In the aftermath of the Western-oriented putsch in Kiev, German politicians are preparing German public opinion for the disastrous deterioration of the Ukraine economic situation. Even though it was most recently suggested that the country could only expect a thriving development by linking up to the EU, it is now – truthfully – being announced that Ukraine is practically bankrupt. The CDU European parliamentarian, Elmar Brok, predicts “difficult times” ahead: “It has never rained gold coins, except in fairy tales.” In fact back in the fall, experts had already indicated that, because of its out-dated industry, the Ukraine would have to expect dramatic economic slumps if it signs the EU Association Agreements – unemployment and poverty would dramatically rise. In a position paper, the Berlin-based German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) is now proposing the introduction of a special status in EU ties for the Ukraine as well as other countries, such as Turkey. This sort of EU “second ring” would also permit the economic integration of such countries as Switzerland, which politically resists joining the EU. The SWP contends that these plans could also be used for Catalonia, should it secede from Spain and Scotland, from Britain.

Germany and Merkel hold Europe’s fate in their hands

The once-divided city of Berlin now has the task of holding Europe together and, for Chancellor Angela Merkel, this will require a difficult balancing act.

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Angela Merkel does not do trick or treat. She does slow and steady – not shock and awe.

But over the past year or so, she has made greater efforts to reach out to countries where strict austerity measures are being imposed to persuade them that yes, she does care. Germany cares.

And she is trying to make the same case to her core constituency.

Former ECB Chief Economist Says ECB Is In Panic, As Czech President Warns The End Of Democracy Is Imminent

If anyone thought the bad blood between Germany and the rest of the insolvent proletariat, aka the part of the Eurozone which is out of money (most of it), and which has been now confirmed will be supporting Obama (one wonders what the quid for that particular quo is, although we are certain we will find out as soon as December), complete collapse of the Greek neo-vassal state of the globalist agenda notwithstanding, had gone away, here comes former ECB chief economist Juergen Stark to dispel such illusions. In an interview with Austrian Die Presse, the former banker said what everyone without a PhD understands quite well: “The break came in 2010. Until then everything went well…”Then the ECB began to take on a new role, to fall into panic…. Together with other central banks, the ECB is flooding the market, posing the question not only about how the ECB will get its money back, but also how the excess liquidity created can be absorbed globally. “It can’t be solved by pressing a button. If the global economy stabilises, the potential for inflation has grown enormously… It gave in to outside pressure … pressure from outside Europe” Why, whichever bank headquartered at 200 West, NY, NY might he be referring to?

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And speaking of continuing takeover of the world by a few not so good banks, a loud warning that the advent of globalist influences (i.e., bankers) is taking over Europe and that the “destruction of Europe’s democracy is in its final phase” comes not from some European (or American… or Zimbabwean) fringe blog, but from the 71 year old president of the Czech Republic, someone who certainly knows about the difference between communism and democracy, Vaclav Klaus. In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, “Václav Klaus warns that “two-faced” politicians, including the Conservatives, have opened the door to an EU superstate by giving up on democracy, in a flight from accountability and responsibility to their voters. “We need to think about how to restore our statehood and our sovereignty. That is impossible in a federation. The EU should move in an opposite direction,” he said.”

Alas, what also is impossible in a Federation is for a banker-controlled entity to provide money out of thin air, i.e., public debt, which dilutes the “common currency” in the process preserving the illusion that credit-fueled growth (the only kinds the world has seen since the advent of the Federal Reserve) can continue for ever, when in reality all that is happening is the ongoing dilution of sovereignty alongside the destruction of individual currencies. This is precisely what the status quo, i.e., the above mentioned company headquartered at 200 West, wants.

And what the status quo wants it always gets, absent a revolution.

Full article: Former ECB Chief Economist Says ECB Is In Panic, As Czech President Warns The End Of Democracy Is Imminent (Zero Hedge)

‘Germany Has Been the Winner in the Globalization Process’

SPIEGEL: What advice would you give Merkel and her counterparts? Should they tear the euro zone apart?

Rogoff: No, certainly not. We are talking about bending not breaking, with one or more periphery countries allowed to leave temporarily in order to enjoy greater flexibility. There is currently no simple solution for this unparalleled crisis. The big mistakes were made in the 1990s.

SPIEGEL: Does that mean the whole idea of the euro was a mistake?

Rogoff: No, a common currency for countries like Germany and France was a reasonable risk, given the political dividends. But it was a grave mistake to bring all the south European states into the euro zone purely for reasons of political union. Most of them were not ready for it economically.

SPIEGEL: That may well be, but the fact is that now they are part of the monetary union, and that can’t simply be unravelled.

Rogoff: Which is why there is only one alternative: Either the euro completely collapses — with all the catastrophic consequences that would entail — or the core members of the currency union manage to turn the euro zone into a genuine political union.

SPIEGEL: Europe has recently agreed on a fiscal compact committing all members to better budgetary discipline. Is that a step in the right direction?

Rogoff: Yes, but it will by no means suffice. All this treaty does is give the markets the temporary illusion that the problems have been solved for now. It has achieved nothing more than that.

SPIEGEL: What is needed instead?

Rogoff: What the monetary union needs more than anything is a central government, including a a finance minister, with significant tax and spending authority. The individual countries should also stop insisting on national control of banking regulation. That is a matter that should be dealt with exclusively at European level.

SPIEGEL: Do you honestly believe that the countries in the euro zone can bring themselves to hand over that much more power to Brussels?

Rogoff: The terrible thing is that few countries in Europe seem genuinely prepared for that. Those politicians who know what is needed keep quiet, fearing opposition from the voters. But the pressure of this crisis will create a momentum whose scope and impact we cannot yet imagine. At the end of the day, the United States of Europe may well come about a lot quicker than many would have thought.

Full article: ‘Germany Has Been the Winner in the Globalization Process’ (Spiegel Online)

China And Japan Currency Swap: Nail In US Dollar’s Coffin

On 25 December 2011, the government of Peoples Republic of China and Japan unveiled plans to promote direct exchange of their currencies. This agreement will allow firms to convert the Chinese and Japanese currencies directly into each other, thus negating the need to buy dollars. This deal between China and Japan followed agreements between China and numerous countries to trade outside the sphere of the US dollar. A few weeks earlier, China also announced a 70 billion Yuan ($11 billion) currency swap agreement with Thailand.

After visiting China, the Prime Minister of Japan Yoshihiko Noda went on to India and signed another currency swap agreement with the government of India. These currency agreements in Asia came in a year when the countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) were seeking to deepen ways to strengthen their firewall to protect their economies from the continued devaluation of the US dollar. In the year of the ‘Eurozone crisis’ when the future of the EURO as a viable currency was fraught with uncertainty, many states were reconsidering holding their reserves in the US dollar.

Continue reading article: China And Japan Currency Swap: Nail In US Dollar’s Coffin (Eurasia Review)